Unwritten
by zosimos
Summary: Sometimes, they are so very much alike. Roy/Ed fluff.


Roy Mustang closed the book he had been reading with a barely suppressed yawn. He'd lost hours again - it was so damnably easy, that's why he so rarely picked up books in the first place, especially ones about his specialty, fire alchemy - and the sunlight that was slanting through the window spoke of late afternoon.

He shifted, moving to place the old book on the floor beside where he sat, leaned against the wall of the spare room he'd converted into a home office. He hadn't intended to get lost in a book, he had sat on the floor to page through a book on rare symbols and got distracted by a half-completed theorem scribbled in the corner of one of the pages. And now here it was hours later, his neck and back sore from reading, and he couldn't hardly move because Roy realized with a jolt that Edward had his head in Roy's lap.

Edward was laying on his back, head pillowed on Roy's lap. He had a large book propped on his chest, held up with his automail hand, his head cocked at what had to be a painful angle to keep reading. And reading Edward was, eyes squinted in concentration.

When had Edward shown up? Roy usually had at least half an ear paying attention to the ambient sounds around him, but he'd totally missed the young alchemist's arrival. Gently he brushed some of Edward's floppy golden bangs from his face and Edward didn't flinch, eyes moving over line after line of text rapidly.

Edward had let himself in, made himself at home and curled up on Roy's lap like a languid cat. Roy smiled, fingers carding gently through Edward's loose hair. He was laying on his braid, Roy could feel it now pressed against the top of his thigh.

"Ed," Roy murmured. He was not quite flexible enough to brush his lips over Edward's forehead like he wanted to, and that upset him a little. He ran his thumb over Edward's forehead and frowned at the lack of response.

Alphonse had told the office with much exasperation the lengths he had gone to to roust Edward out of a 'book daze', up to and including closing the book on his nose. Edward was never happy to be interrupted, Roy knew that - he had such a one-track mind when it came to anything. His dedication and intense focus was somewhere between admirable and terrifying.

On a whim, Roy passed his hand between the book and Edward's eyes. Edward's brow furrowed in aggravation, and he made a grumbling noise, but didn't blink and his eyes didn't track the movement.

He sighed and tilted his head back, knocking it gently against the wall behind him. The late afternoon sunlight had painted stripes across the wall and the door that opened into the hallway, and Edward's head was warm and heavy in his lap. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, there was nothing in the world that needed to be attended to right now and Roy could just relax and enjoy the moment.

This casual touch was so special to him. This wasn't something they could share at the office - they barely touched there, both to allay suspicion and because generally when they DID make contact it either led directly into sex or violence (and sometimes both at once). Edward was such a physical creature, he craved attention and touch.

Somewhere along the line Roy had begun to think of Edward as feline. This was probably influenced by the fact that any time the Elrics stayed in Central at length that Edward would come into the office trying to find a home for one of the kittens that his little brother had picked up. It wasn't unusual to find the young alchemist curled up in the sunlight trying to catch a quick nap - he slept so much, sometimes it worried Roy - and those unearthly golden eyes...

But, Roy realized, looking down at the alchemist sprawled across his floor, that really didn't suit Edward at all. He was more a playful puppy, full of boundless enthusiasm and fierce in his loyalty. And for some godforsaken reason, he had decided that Roy Mustang was the man most deserving of his loyalty.

Roy very gently moved Edward's automail hand off the top of the book and lifted it. Edward's eyes tracked the text and then his brow furrowed again in anger as Roy closed the book and put it on top of the one had been reading. "H-hey! I was reading that!"

Edward's dangerous gold eyes, narrowed in aggravation. Roy smiled and shifted him in his lap, hand under Edward's head to lift him enough so that Roy could kiss him. It was meant to be a brief kiss, but like so many things lately Roy lost that battle.

When they finally parted, Edward's eyes had shifted to lazily content. He licked his lips slowly and Roy smiled - an honest smile (how was it Edward was so good at drawing that out of him? Brat), and then winced as his neck cracked. Edward laid his head on his arm, still comfortable in Roy's lap, and looked up at him.

Roy was owned by that set of golden eyes, he felt pinned to the wall by the warm amber irises. "How long have you been here?" Roy asked, his voice a low rumble.

"Couple of hours." Edward yawned into the back of his automail hand. "You were dead to the world, Mustang, what were you reading?"

"Nothing of import," Roy murmured. He ran his hand through Edward's hair again. "I thought you and Alphonse were leaving today."

"Mm," Edward settled himself there. "Change of plans. Decided I was needed here instead." Edward's automail hand was already at work untucking Roy's collared shirt from his trousers. He always was so forward. Another for the list of things that Roy adored about his young lover. "Didn't think I'd find you readin'. Figured you do enough readin' at work."

"Reading is a bit different than studying, Edward."

Edward quirked an eyebrow at Roy in surprise. "You? Studying?"

The disbelief on Edward's face irritated Roy. "And why is that so hard for you to believe?" Roy asked, injured.

"Didn't think you had to."

"I..." This response puzzled Roy. "Of course I have to, Edward, I'm an alchemist. How do you think I keep my certification current?"

"Figure you've got the system rigged by now."

"Of course I do. But that's not the point." Fire alchemy was dangerous, and complicated. If he didn't keep up on his knowledge he could get rusty and with such a destructive power at his fingertips - he couldn't risk the people around him. He couldn't afford to get complacent. "You're always studying, Edward."

"Well, yeah," Edward sat up, his hair in disarray. He frowned at the poof of hair that was coming out of his braid and undid the cord that secured his hair nimbly with the fingers of his left hand, supporting his weight with his automail. "I have to."

It suddenly struck Roy that Edward presumed Roy didn't have to study. Edward's intelligence was unmatched when it came to alchemy - he and his brother both were incredible prodigies with the science. While Edward would brag about his accomplishments to all that would listen, he was still young enough not to realize exactly how special he was.

Roy covered half of his face with his hand and tried not to laugh. Edward had the hair tie in his teeth as he combed his fingers through his hair, trying to settle it so he could pull it back into a ponytail.

Roy caught his left hand and Edward let out a startled noise as Roy brought it to his lips. Roy kissed Edward's fingers just above the knuckle, and Edward grunted a slightly irritated noise.

"Leave it down," Roy said softly. He could see the muscles tense and relax along Edward's neck and the small bit of shoulder exposed by the shirt he was wearing.

Edward turned his head and Roy could see the line of his jaw and just a bit of his eye, narrowed. Edward was smiling, cord still in his teeth.

Gorgeous, golden, eyes absolutely lethal, and...

...his.


End file.
